"Rays" of hope?

Allow me to introduce you to the new Major League Baseball team on the west coast of Florida.

...The Tampa Bay Rays.

No, Bud Selig didn't take his head out of the "Mitchell Report" in an effort to expand the league again. This team has always been here...well...sort of.

For the past 10 years the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, have toiled in absolute obscurity in the cellar of the American League East, playing the role of perennial door mat for the Yankees and Red Sox to wipe their cleats on. Year after year, journeyman ball players long past their prime were brought in to give the fan base in Tampa something to cling to for the first two weeks of April. By May 1st , the team was 15 games out of first place and the local sports media started to cover Tampa Bay Buccaneer spring football practices.

Names like Jose Canseco, Greg Vaughn and Fred McGriff all paraded their overpriced bats through the clubhouse at Tropicana field with no stats, and more importantly, no wins to show for it.

Thankfully, those days are long gone!

Through an effort that can be best termed as "Addition by Subtraction", the Rays (no longer of the satanic variety) are making their mark on the American League and look to be in a position to do so for many years to come.

The first instance of Addition by Subtraction (ABS for the remainder of the article) was a change in ownership, and along with that a change in philosophy. No more bringing in 40 year old sluggers looking for that last big paycheck. New ownership placed an emphasis on building a strong minor league system through the draft, and the results of that effort are starting to show. Young stars like center fielder BJ Upton and rookie third baseman Evan Longoria (who has drawn comparisons to the Mets David Wright), are leading a youth movement in Tampa that's taking the league by storm.

Pitching ace Scott Kazmir (pictured above), along with James Shields and 2007 #1 overall draft pick David Price have Rays fans envisioning the second coming of Maddox, Smoltz and Glavine.

The next "ABS" the ball club made was parting ways with players who possessed some "character issues". Delmon Young, notorious for throwing a bat at a minor league umpire after a called third strike was sent to Minnesota in exchange for slick fielding short stop Jason Bartlett and starting pitcher Matt Garza. Elijah Dukes, best known for threatening to kill his girlfriend was sent packing to the Nationals in exchange for...well...who cares...he's gone and that's one less distraction for your team!

The final "ABS" was the name change. I know it sounds silly to think that a team changes its name and as a result suddenly they're contenders. But listening to this group of players, they look at it as an opportunity to wipe the slate clean. Doing away with 10 years of frustration and losing, and starting a whole new chapter of professional baseball in Tampa Bay.

At the time this article was written, the Rays have a record of 38-28, 2.5 games behind Boston and 4.5 games ahead of New York in the AL East standings. So I say, DON'T SLIP "Evil Empire" and "Red Sox Nation"...these aren't your daddy's Devil Rays...these are The Rays...and they're for real!

-Coop